An every day account of a small racing yard and the highs and lows....

Monday, 11 December 2017

We have had a fabulous mini break in Cornwall and are now on our way back. The cottage was perfect and it was great fun to share with Clare, Helen and Cyn. On Saturday night we went out for a meal with Mike Biddick who is a character and a half, and it transpired that he went out to Australia as a young man and worked for some of Doug's friends. A small world. He also told us that it had been raining non stop for the last ten days. There was torrential rain that night and the following day we were wondering whether the racing was going to be called off. It wasn't but meanwhile the snow had started falling at home and we were worried that Scott and Paddy weren't going to make it. They were both going with their respective girlfriends separately. Paddy rang up at about nine to say the roads were too bad and he wasn't going to make it in time but thankfully, Scott, who left earlier just managed to get through the worst of it and arrived in time to ride Jess, which was lucky as his race on Budge wasn't for another two hours. As it turned out the ground was bottomless and Jess, jumped beautifully but after two circuits decided that enough was enough and pulled herself up. Understandable as she just can't act on soft ground and feels like a bag of spanners to sit on when it is like that. Budge, who is also a good ground horse, struggled but managed to get a clear round and Scott did really well to nurse him home in such horrendous conditions where only the mud larks were finishing. It was great experience for Scott to ride on that very tricky course and in those conditions, so worth doing. We also had a 'blast from the past' when Lucy, our head girl three years ago, who moved down to Cornwall and has been much missed, helped us with the horses and led them around the paddock like old times. It was lovely to see her again. In the evening we went out for a meal with Niki and Andrew Law, good friends who we don't see enough of, and had a wonderful evening catching up, so the trip was very much worth it from a number of angles. The sun was shining when we left and the fields were green, but now we have crossed into Devon and there is white stuff everywhere and the sleet is coming down. We have got a great team at Blackgrounds who have been breaking ice, clearing snow and turning horses out so all good there which is fortunate as this could be quite a long trip home....

About Me

Pauline has been race riding her own horses in point to points for 15 years and is now training with Doug. Pauline has recently got her trainers permit. They are both passionate about National Hunt racing and achieving maximum potential from their horses in the best possible way. This is why ‘Equine Fitness’ is a very exciting new business for them.
In 2006 Doug eventually plucked up the courage (it only took 7 years!) to propose to Pauline whilst they were on holiday in the Maldives and they married in the Lake District in June 2007.